Giant outdoor TV screen draws customers to Illinois dealership

The giant screen sits 25 feet above the ground outside the Buick-Pontiac-GMC store

It might not be the biggest one available, the giant television at Wagner Buick Pontiac GMC in Belleville, Illinois, still gets plenty of notice, reports the Belleville-News Democrat.

It's not actually a television but the large video display outside the dealership can show video footage and it probably has startled a few drivers on the road when they looked up and saw cars coming at them.

The sign has been up for almost two weeks and Wagner Buick owner Rusty Wagner said it has taken him about that long to learn how to operate it. He uses his computer and the software that came with the video display to program and run the sign.

The double-sided video display is about 7 feet tall by 12 feet wide. It sits 25 feet above the ground. Mr. Wagner wouldn't reveal the purchase price but he did say that it was ridiculously expensive.

Mr. Wagner said the key for him was getting a screen that would show action. "Cars move. I wanted running footage," he said.

Messages are brief since cars driving by don't have a lot of time to look. The default setting for messages is two seconds.

Mr. Wagner is still experimenting with various things he can do with the sign. The time and temperature readings rotate in and out of the messages. He can pull video off a GM advertising Web site. He said he has made a lot of progress.